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To Build a Ski Resort Under U.N. Sanctions, North Korea Turned to China

BEIJING — After North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, ordered his army to build a world-class ski resort, the imported equipment for it was soon at hand, including snowmobiles, snowblowers and even a mile-long cable car system manufactured by a leading Austrian company.

By almost any estimate, the sale of such items appears to violate the intent of United Nations sanctions meant to punish the North for its nuclear weapons program — specifically, sanctions targeting luxury goods, intended to cover products like Champagne and caviar, yachts and expensive cars.